rammed a pedestrian today

shared 2.5 m wide divided (by a large white line and clearly marked cycle markings) over a foot bridge (by which i mean it is only this path, no road or anything or i'd have been on the road)

the path leading to it is much wider, and as such i take it a little quicker before braking onto the bridge, down to about 5mph the bridge is sloped so i have to drag the brakes to keep a slow speed

i slow down more to actually pass people on the bridge and am on the brakes anyway when a woman walked right into my path from across the line, i bumped into her at a similar pace to two people walking into each other

no one was hurt and she apologised quite quickly saying it was her fault
so even though she claimed responsibility, was it my fault? had i been going any slower than the speed i was trying to hold myself to i would not be able to balance

Short answer: Yes
Long answer: Yes with a but.
We should always expect peds to do the unexpected because they usually do and even if the path is devided peds very rarely observe this. Having said that no one was hurt so everyone can put it down to experience and be more careful next time.
I used to cycle a similar situation to the one you described and ended up going slower than walking pace after several near misses. I then decided to find a different route.
Pete

Short answer: Yes
Long answer: Yes with a but.
We should always expect peds to do the unexpected because they usually do and even if the path is devided peds very rarely observe this. Having said that no one was hurt so everyone can put it down to experience and be more careful next time.
I used to cycle a similar situation to the one you described and ended up going slower than walking pace after several near misses. I then decided to find a different route.
Pete

Click to expand...

i can't think of a way to avoid pedestrians giving me half a foot of braking room tho

There are lots of shared use cycle paths around York and you do have to learn where the places are where pedestrians are likely to stay into the cycle area, and slow right down.

You might also consider having a bell and ringing it when you approach groups of pedestrians. Not everyone likes this, but often people don't hear or see you coming.

Having said all that, for the most part pedestrians and cyclists in York behave sensibly and responsibly, and learn to keep out of each others' way. So hopefully your incident will prove to be a one-off. Don't beat yourself up over it.

Doesn't sound like it was your fault, no. Peds have just as much of an obligation to obey the highway code as cyclists or drivers, and it seems like you did your part.

Had a similar incident yesterday, this time involving a large horde of school-children who filled the path like a herd of sheep, and behaved in a similar way. Of course I didn't hit anyone, and slowed to a near crawl, but 'the unexpected' was precisely what they did! Poor little lambs.

I'm with Dannyg on the bell answer, even if you give people a start when they're not expecting you, it's preferable to being told that they didn't hear your approach.

Ped's are very difficult to please in that, if you alert them with a bell or friedly shout, they get agitated and defencive.
If you cycle past them at walking pace they get agitated and defencive, and if you barrel into them as they step blindly in front of you they can get extremely agitated and defencive!

It's a bit of a NWS(No Win Situation)really, and I'd say 'NO' you were not in the wrong as you were already riding with consideration for others, and you got an apology and not an earfull!!